Apparatus for producing electrical conductors



May 8, 1962 K. H. ANDREN 3,032,860

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS Filed Dec. 16, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

A T'TOR/VE'YSv K. H. ANDREN 3,032,860

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS May 8, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 16. 1957 K. H. ANDREN 3,032,860

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ELECTRICAL counucwons 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 16, 1957 m ww K. H. ANDREN May 8, 1962 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 16, 1957 l Illa H" II.

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INVENTOR United States Patent Ofifice 3,932,360 Patented May 8, 1962 The present invention relates generally to improvements in the art of producing electrical conductors, and it re lates more specifically to an improved apparatus for manufacturing successive conductors each comprising a definite length of wire severed from a continuous stock supply and having a terminal attached to each of its opposite ends.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for rapidly producing successive electrical conductors of definite length and each having a terminal applied to its opposite ends, from longitudinally advancing wire stock.

Many different methods and machines for producing electrical conductors from wire stock have heretofore been proposed and used commercially with varying degrees of success, and in most cases these conductors are severed into lengths from either bare or insulated wire stock being fed from a source of supply and each length is provided at either one or both ends with a terminal depending upon the use to which the final conductors are to be applied. While single wire conductors are required in many cases, conductors formed of cord having a pair of wires joined by insulation coverings for the wires and having terminals attached to each end of each of the complementary wires are also in great demand. Because of the large numbers of such conductors required, it is essential that they be rapidly produced with minimum waste of stock, of definite length, and with utmost precision with respect to location of the terminals on the wires of the' successive conductors, and firm attachment" of the terminals is also demanded by most users of the product.

The prior modes of producing such diverse conductors have all been unable to meet all of the above mentioned requirements primarily because they were too slow and unable to meet the precision in length, because they could not be utilized to product conductors of varying lengths, or because they were unable to effectively attach the terminals to the wires. Then too the prior machines em ployed for the manufacture of such conductors were either too complicated to insure uninterrupted automatic functioning and to permit convenient variation in desired length of the product, or they could not be operated without excessive waste of wire stock, and they could not be utilized to effectively and rapidly produce such conductors from cord stock.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an improved machine forp'roducing electrical conductors of any desired precise length eachhaving a terminal firmly attached to each of its opposite ends, rapidly and without waste of Wire stock.

Another important object of this invention is to pro-' vide simple mechanism for carrying on the steps of an improved conductor fabricating system automatically and with minimum attention, and which can be conveniently adjusted to produce successive conductors of any desired length with utmost precision and dependability.

A further important object of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for producing such conductors from insulated single or multiple wire stock at high speed, and with the terminals accurately and firmly applied to stripped endsof the successive wire lengths of stocksevered from a longitudinally advanced stock supply, Still another" object of this" invention is to provide an improved apparatus for producing electrical conductors each having a terminal firmly attached to its opposite ends, from axially advancing wire stock immediately after the successive lengths of Wire have been severed from the stock and without displacing the severed lengths laterally of their direction of advancement.

An additional object of this invention is to provide an' improved apparatus for rapidly and effectively producing a succession of electrical conductors each having a termi rial applied to each of its opposite ends by severing lengths of wire from longitudinally fed stock in a fixed zone, and

by simultaneously attaching terminals to both of the severed ends of the wire and stock within the severing, zone while the severed lengths remain in axial alinement with the wire stock entering the zone.

These and other more specific objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description. A clear conception of the steps involved in the improved conductor production procedure and of a commercial machine fcr automatically exploiting the new system, may be had by referring to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification wherein like reference char acters designate the same or similar parts in the various views. H

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary top view of a typical machine for carrying on the present improved system for producing electrical conductors from successive lengths of insulated wire severed from longitudinally fed wire stock and each having terminals attached to its opposite ends; 7

FIG. 2 is a considerably enlarged similar view showing the wire severing and insulation cutting tools and the terminal attaching devices, as well as the wire feeding and insulation stripping clamps, of the machine more in detail, but with some of the superstructure omitted for clarity; FIG. 3 is a further enlarged transverse vertical section through the cutting and stripping and terminal attaching zone of the machine taken directly adjacent to the strip ping tools while in active position, the section being taken along the line 33 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a likewise enlarged transverse vertical section through the same zone of the machine taken along the irregular line 44 of FIG. 2, adjacent to one of the terminal attaching devices and showing the latter before a pair of terminals have been applied to the trailing stripped" end of a severed wire length;

FIG. 5 is a similarly enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical section through the same terminal attaching de' vice taken along the line 5 of FIG. 11, and illustrating the action of this device just prior to final attachment'of a terminal;

FIG. 6 is another similarly enlarged transverse vertical section through the cutting and stripping tooldrive of the machine taken along the line 6-6 0f FIG. l;

FIG. 7 is a transverse vertical section through the wire feed clamp supporting and actuating structure taken along the line 7-7 of FIG. I, but also showing a verticalsection through one of the feed clamp assemblages;

FIG. 8 is a diagram depicting the initial fabrication step during which fresh Wire stock has just been fed by one of the clamps longitudinally through and a definite distance beyond the unobstructed cutting and stripping nals being attached to the adjacent stripped ends of the wire stock and of the severed length of wire; and

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view showing how several different types of terminals may be attached to the opposite ends of dual wire insulated cord stock with the aid of the present improved machine.

While the invention has been illustrated and described herein as being advantageously applicable for the production of conductors from dual cord stock and having a terminal attached to each of the opposite stripped ends of each wire, it is not intended to restrict its use to the production of such specific conductors; and it is also contemplated that all descriptive terms employed herein be given the broadest possible interpretation consistent with the actual disclosure.

In accordance with the improved system for producing electrical conductors, which may be carried on by hand but is preferably exploited commercially by mechanism, in order to enhance the rate of production, insulated wire stock is initially fed a predetermined distance longitudinally through and beyond a cutting zone in which a selected length of the wire is severed from the stock and the insulation is also severed a definite distance on opposite sides of the point of wire severance, then the adjacent ends of both the severed wire length and of the stock are moved apart a definite distance while the severed insulation is simultaneously stripped from these ends, and terminals are thereafter attached to each of the stripped wire ends at the cutting zone to complete the conductor without transversely displacing said ends relative to the longitudinal axis of the wire.

A typical machine for automatically producing electrical conductors from insulated dual Wire cord stock is illustrated in the drawings, and comprises in general, a wire cutting, stripping and terminal attaching zone 9' disposed above a drive box 10 which carries an elongated horizontal boom 11 extending across the zone S" and has a pair of parallel slide bars 12', 13 suspended therefrom on opposite sides of this zone; a pair of Wire feed clamp assemblages 14, 15 mounted for movement back and forth along the bars 12', 13' respectively past the zone 9'; a cutter head 16 also carried by the drive box 10' and having wire and insulation cutting and terminal attaching devices mounted thereon within the zone 9'; and a pair of insulation stripping clamps l7, 18 located beneath the boom 11 outwardly beyond the opposite ends of the zone 9, see FIG. 1.

The drive box 10 houses a propelling motor 19 together with the transmission mechanism for imparting the desired movement to the various parts of the machine, and this motor 19 is drivingly connected by a V- belt drive 20 with the rear end of a transverse horizontal shaft 22 which has a hand wheel 21 at its front end for effecting manual trial run actuation of the mechanism. The transmission mechanism which is enclosed within the drive box 10' may be of relatively well known construction and embodies gearing, cams, cranks, rocker arms, and other mechanical movements formed to actuate the various moving parts of the machine in proper sequence during normal operation, that is, once for each final conductor produced. Since this concealed motion transmitting mechanism is merely a matter of machine design, its detailed description has been omitted for the sake of clarity, but the motion transfer elements which are driven by the concealed transmission mechanism and which directly actuate the various parts of the unit constituting the present invention, will be described in detail.

' These motion transfer elements which are driven by the transmission mechanism confined within the drive box 10, include a horizontally reciprocable rod 23 for mow'ng the stripping clamp 17 along a guideway 26; an oscillatory shaft for opening and closing the clamp 17; a set of reciprocable links 27, 23, 29 for respectively actuating the cutting and shipping tool mounting slides 24, 30, for opening and closing the stripping clamp 18, and for controlling the stripping movement of this clamp along its guideway 31; a bell crank 32 swingable in a vertical plane and which actuates the terminal attaching rams 34, 35, 36, 37; and another periodically oscillatory shaft 33 which functions to feed the successive terminals into proper position for attachment to the severed wire lengths. These various actuating elements are operable from the motor 19 through the belt drive 20 and the transverse shaft 22 which is continuously rotatable during normal operation, but is also adapted to be rotated by the hand wheel 21.

The boom 11 is firmly secured at one end to the drive box it) by means of cap screws 43, and the end of this boom remote from the box 10' may be supported by a suitable stand. The top boom 11' also has a bearing bracket 44 secured thereto, in which a shaft 45 which carries the pinion of the bevel gearing 39 is journalled, and the cable drum 4% is fastened to this upright shaft 45 and coacts with a cable 46 which winds around the drum 4% and has its ends permanently attached thereto. The cable 46 has parallel stretches secured to the wire feed clamps 14, 15 and is provided with an arcuate portion connecting these stretches remote from the drum 4% which coacts with an idler drum 47 journalled on a steel shaft 48 depending from the boom 11 as depicted in The wire feed clamps 14, 15' are of relatively well known construction, each comprising a clamp supporting bracket 49 slidable upon the adjacent guide bar 12, 13 and adapted to be propelled therealong by the stretches of the cable 46. These cable stretches are adjustably anchored to the brackets 49 by clamping plates 5 and each of these brackets has an inclined raceway coacting with a slide 53 which carries a pair of pivoted jaws 54, 54 operable by a toggle 56. Each slide 53 carries another relatively s'lidable member 55 one end of which is engageable with the adjacent toggle 56 and the opposite end of which has an actuating roller 57 thereon, as shown in FIG. 7. The upper end of one jaw 5 is engageable with a key 5% which permits opening and closing of the jaws only at the extreme lower portion of the slide 53;, and each clamp assemblage can be bodily lifted with the jaws 54 spread apart to uppermost position as shown at the right of FIG. 7 away from a cord or wire 5 so as to clear all of the wire cutting, stripping and terminal attaching tools as well as the other clamp.

The rollers 57 are adapted to be raised to lift and open the clamp jaws 54 by means of elongated bars 69 carried by an oscillatory pivot shaft 52 which is journalled in bearings 63 permanently attached to the boom 11', and one end of this shaft 62 has the lever 42 secured thereto. This lever 42 is periodically swingable by the mechanism confined within the drive box It), and the pivot shaft 62 also has another lever 64 attached thereto outwardly beyond the zone 9' which is operable to close the jaws 54 of the clamps 14, 15'. The stroke of the feed clamps 14', 15' afforded by the cable 46, is readily adjustable by means of a crank which actuates, a rack 65 coacting with a pinion 66 secured to the drive shaft 38. When the clamps 14', 15 are secured to the stretches of the cable 46 by means of the plates 56, they will be reciprocated by this cable, and the clamp jaws 54 will be alternately closed by the lever 64 when the clamp has been stopped beneath this lever, and opened at the end of the next wire feed stroke when the clamp is stopped beneath the bars 60.

The intermittently reciprocable link 27 which is also operable from within the drive box 10, is adjustably secured to a rack assemblage 67 such as shown in FIG. 6, and which is adapted to simultaneously rotate a pair of pinions 68, 69 in opposite directions. The pinion 68 is secured to one end of a shaft 70, the opposite end of which carries a pinion 71 which coacts with a rack 72 mounted upon the tool supporting slide 30, while the other pinion 69 is likewise secured to an end of a shaft 74, the other end of which carries a pinion 73 coacting with a rack 75 mounted upon the tool supporting slide 24,

and these slides 30, 24 carry the wire severing blades 76 and the insulation cutting stripping blades 77 as well as the insulation end slitting blades 78 which are utilized when conductors are being produced from cord stock. The tool rams 34, 35, 36, 37 are gibbed and slidably mounted upon the cutter head 16 and are all operable by a system of four toggles 79, see FIG. 2. Each complementary pair of these toggles 79 is interconnected by links 81, and these links are connected by other links 82, 83 to opposed swinging portions of a rocker arm 84 secured to a shaft 86 and which is swingable by the reciprocable bellcrank 32 through a link 85.

The toggle link system is properly positioned by means of blocks 87 one of which is adjustable by means of screws 88 in order to properly set the clamping pressure exerted by the rams 34, 36. The other rams 35, 37 each cary a set of anvils 90 adapted for use with the particular type of terminals to be applied, and which are provided with wire end spreader blades 91 preferably disposed in slots formed in spring pressed guiding slides 92 having pockets for guiding the cord stock. The anvils 99 extend downwardly to form guides 95 for terminal strips 94 and which are provided with covers 96, and these guides 95 are each formed with another guideway on its opposite.

side also provided with a cover 97 for housing the slides 98, see FIG. 4. These slides 99 carry upper pivoted pawls 99, which coact with the terminal strip 94 through an opening in the guide 95 and the lower ends of the slides 98 are connected to links 101 which are operable by levers 101 carried by the oscillatory shaft 33, to feed the two terminal strips 94 to the attaching dies at the precise moment. The opposed rams 34, 36 are provided with terminal attaching punches 93 provided with shearing edges 93 as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 9, for crimping the successive terminals 94 to the stripped ends of the wires in the cord 59 and in some cases also to the adjacent insulation. The rams 34, 356 simultaneously function to sever the individual terminals 94 from the terminal strips.

The stripping clamps 17, 18 which separate the severed ends of the wire stock and of the cut lengths within the zone 9' are of relatively well known construction, the clamp 17 being s'lidably mounted upon the guide bar 26 which is supported upon a bracket 110 carried by the cutter head 16 and by the support 53, and being bodily movable between stops 163 by means of a link 1% and a lever 105 which is operable by the reciprocable rod 23. A pair of cooperable gripping jaws 1% which are operable by toggles as in the feed clamps 14', are carried by a slide which is reciprocable by a polygonal shaft 107 operable by linkage 1G8 and a lever Hi9 fixedly attached to the shaft 25, as shown in FIG. 7. The clamp 18 is slidably mounted upon the guideway 31 and is bodily movable between the stops 103 by means of a pinion 112 coacting with rack teeth 113 and this pinion is rotatable by a rack 114 cooperable by the reciprocable link 29, see FIG. 2. The wire clamping jaws 106 are opened and closed by a square shaft carrying a lever 117 which is operable by the reciprocable link 28, and both of the stripping clamps 17, 18 are located outwardly beyond the cutting, stripping and terminal attaching zone 9'.

When the various parts of the improved machine have been properly constructed and assembled as above described, its normal operation and use while producing conductors from dual wire cord stock 59 as shown in FIG. 12 and while carrying on the present improved system, is substantially as follows, attention being primarily dirooted to the diagrams of FIGS. 8 to 11 inclusive. After the various parts of the machine have been tentatively set or adjusted for the production of conductors having the desired length and other characteristics, and cord stock 59 has been withdrawn from a suitable source of supply such as a reel while the terminal units have also been supplied with terminal strip stock, the first conductor may be produced by making a trial run with the aid of the hand wheel 21 secured to the shaft 22. Manual 5 turning of this wheel 21 will actuate the mechanism confined within the gear box 10', and after a satisfactory final conductor has been thus produced, the unit is ready for automatic production by operation of the motor 19.

As depicted in FIG. 8, the jaws 54 of the wire feed clamp 15' have closed and this clamp has been moved toward the right so as to draw wire stock 59 with a terminal 94 attached to its leading end, through and beyond the tool zone 9' while the wire severing and insulation cutting knives 76, 77 and the slicing blades 78 were fully separated, and the remaining jaws 54, 196, 166' were open, to permit unobstructed passage of cord stock and of the jaws 54'. The extent of this rectilinear advancement of the wire stock 59 has been accurately predetermined by proper adjustment of the cable drive 65 and attachment of the clamps 14', 15 to the stretches of the cable 45 with the aid of the clamping plates 50, and the open feed clamp 14' with its jaws 54 will have been stopped to the left of the zone 9' while the stripping clamp jaws 1G6, 196' will be positively arrested by the stops 103 nearest to this zone. In this position the cord 59 is suspended at one end from its supply reel through the centering and tensioning device 115, and at its opposite end by the jaws 54' of the feed clamp 15' and the zone 9 is entirely unobstructed since the tool mounting slides 24, 3t} and the terminal attaching rams 34, 35, 36, 37 have been fully separated.

As the machine continues to function, the link 28 is operated to automatically close the stripping jaws 166 while the shaft 25 functions to likewise close the stripping jaws 106, and the link 27 simultaneously moves the tool supporting slides '24, 3t) toward each other as in FIG. 9. Here the spring pressed cord guiding slides 92. have closed to provide guides around the wire stock 59 and the slides 35, 37 have advanced the terminal strip 94 toward the wire, while the drive shaft 33 has functioned to feed two terminals into position upon the anvils as also illustrated in' FIG. 4. Simultaneously with this inward advancement of the terminal stock, the tool supporting slides 24, 3t} carry the knives 76, '77, 78'int0 cutting position wherein the knives 76 sever an accurate length of wire 59 from the stock, the knives 77 cut through the insulation only definite distances on opposite sides of the point of severance, and the blades 78 slice through theinsulation midway between the two wires of the cord 59 adjacent to but beyond the cuts made by the knives All of these operations take place within the zone 9, and the stripping clamp jaws 106, 106' which are positioned against the inner stops 103' beyond this zone are also caused to clamp the wire stock and the severed length of wire on opposite sides of the zone 9' as shown in FIG. 9.

Continued operation of the machine thereafter causes the upright member 41 which is driven from the gear box 10 to rotate the feed clamp actuating shaft 62 and to swing the bars 60' about the axis of this shaft, thereby opening the jaws 54 of the clamp '15 while momentarily holding the jaws 54 of the clamp 14' open, as depicted in FIG. 10. The link 29 and draw bar 23 then cause the jaws 1%, 196 of the two stripping clamps 18, 17 to separate and move into engagement with the outer stops 103 thereby causing the blades 78 to split the insulation between the two wires of the cord stock and of the severed wire length, and simultaneously stripping the cut insulation from the severed ends of the two wires, while also precisely locating the stripped wire ends with respect to the terminal strips 94 and cord guiding slides 92. The four stripped and separated ends of the wire stock and of the severed wire-lengths are then in proper position to have the individual terminals-attached thereto.

The final step of completing a conductor is illustrated in FIG. ll, wherein the jaws 54 of the feed clamp 15' have been fully opened while the jaws 54 of the other feed clamp ldhave beenclosed; The clamp15has then been elevated to its maximum extent and the clamp 14' will have been lowered, whereupon further movement of the bell crank 32, causes the rams 34, 35, 36, 37 to complete their inward strokes. This action spreads the adjacent slitted stripped ends of the severed Wires, and also causes the shearing dies 93' to sever terminals 94 from the adjacent strips and the dies to crimp the severed terminals upon the bare wire ends, see FIGS. 4, 5, and ll. In the meantime, while the terminals 4 are thus being applied to complete a conductor, the stripping jaws 166, 1% open, and the link 2? begins to separate the tool carrying slides 24, 30 so as to permit the stripped insulation to drop out of the zone 9', whereupon the rams 34, 35, 36, 37 will be separated to permit the feed clamp 14' and its jaws 54 to subsequently pull a fresh length of wire stock 59 through the cutting, stripping and termial attaching zone.

This series of steps constitutes one cycle of operations which are repeated in rapid succession to produce finished conductors such as shown in FIG. 12, in lengths up to fifteen feet depending upon the lengths of the boom 11' and of the cable stretches. While the feed clamp 14' is travelling in one direction, the other feed clamp 15 is moving in the opposite direction, and these clamps are adapted to be bodily elevated and lowered so as to clear each other during their reverse passages and through the zone 9. The stripping clamp 196, is also adapted to be periodically closed to grip the wire stock 59 and opened and lowered to permit free and unobstructed passage of the feed clamps 14-, 15. The same is true of the tool mounting slides 24-, 3t and of the terminal applying rams 34, 35, as, 37 so that free reciprocation of the feed clamps 1-4, 15' is assured at all times.

From the foregoing detailed description it should be apparent that the present invention in fact provides an improved apparatus for rapidly and elfectively producing electrical conductors with utmost precision. With the present improved machine the wire stock is always advanced with rectilinear motion and it is not necessary to move the stock laterally when applying terminals to the severed ends. This feature is applicable to insulated as well as plain Wire stock, and not only enhances the rate of production of the final conductors but also insures the formation of straight conductors. By causing the wire to be cut, stripped and the terminals applied within a common zone 9', these operations can be carried on with utmost precision resulting in the production of terminals of precisely uniform length with the terminals accurately positioned on each conductor, and with no waste of stock after initial adjustments and trial runs have been made. The invention is applicable for the production of conductors having various types of terminals attached to the opposite ends of diverse types of wire stock, and has proven highly satisfactory and successful in actual use.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact steps or to the precise details of construction and operation of the machine, herein specifically shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a machine for producing successive electrical conductors each having a terminal attached to the opposite ends of a length of wire, clamps operable to advance wire stock longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane to position successive definite lengths of the stock beyond said plane, knives operable to sever each advanced wire length from the stock at said plane, mechanism cooperating with said clamps to relatively endwise separate the adjacent severed ends of the stock and wire length axially of the wire stock in opposite directions away from and perpendicular to said plane to provide spaces adjoining the opposite sides of the plane and which are only sufficient to receive the terminals to be applied to said ends, and terminal attaching devices located on opposite sides of said plane and being operable to simultaneously attach a terminal to each of the adjacent severed wire ends within said spaces immediately following said endwise separation thereof.

2. In a machine for producing successive electrical conductors each having a terminal attached to the opposite ends of a length of insulated wire, clamps operable to advance insulation covered wire longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane to position successive definite lengths of the stock beyond said plane, knives operable to sever each advanced wire length from the stock at said plane and to simultaneously cut through the insulation only on opposite sides of the plane, mechanism cooperating with said clamps to endwise separate the adjacent severed ends of the stock and wire length axially of the wire stock in opposite directions away from and perpendicular to said plane to provide spaces adjoining the opposite sides of the plane and which are only sufiicient to receive the terminals to be applied while simultaneously stripping the pre-cut insulation from said ends, and terminal attaching devices located on opposite sides of said plane and being operable to simultaneously attach a terminal to each of the adjacent severed wire ends within said spaces immediately following said endwise separation thereof.

3. In a machine for producing successive electrical conductors from double wire insulated cord stock and each having a terminal attached to the opposite ends of each wire of the cord, clamps operable to advance the cord stock longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane to position successive definite lengths of the stock beyond said plane, knives operable to sever each advanced wire length from the stock at said plane and to simultaneously cut through the insulation only on opposite sides of the plane, mechanism cooperating with said clamps to endwise separate the adjacent severed ends of the stock and wire length axially of the cord stock in opposite directions away from said plane but avoiding lateral displacement of the stock to provide spaces adjoining said knives only sufficient to receive the terminals to be applied while simultaneously stripping the pre-cut insulation from all four of said ends, spreader blades operable to spread the stripped and separated wire ends of both the stock and of the severed length, and terminal attaching devices located on opposite sides of said plane and being operable to simultaneously attach terminals to the four stripped adjacent ends within said spaces immediately following said endwise separation and spreading thereof.

4. In a machine for producing an electrical conductor from elongated wire stock, means operable to advance the wire stock longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane to position a determined length of the stock beyond said plane, means operable to sever the advanced wire length from the stock at said plane, means cooperating with said stock advancing means to endwise separate the adjacent severed ends of the stock and wire length axially of the wire in opposite directions away from said plane While avoiding lateral displacement of said ends to provide a space suificient to receive the terminals to be applied to said ends, and terminal attaching means located on opposite sides of said plane and being operable to apply a terminal to each of said spaced adjacent severed ends following said endwise separation thereof.

5. In a machine for producing an electrical conductor from elongated insulated wire stock, means operable to advance the wire stock longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane to position a predetermined length of the stock beyond said plane, means operable to sever the advanced wire length from the stock at said plane and to also cut through the insulation only on opposite sides of the plane, means cooperating with said stock advancing means to endwise separate the adjacent severed ends of the stock and wire length axially of the stock in opposite directions away from said plane while avoiding lateral displacement of said ends to provide a space sufilcient to receive the terminals to be applied while simultaneously stripping the pre-cut insulation from said ends, and terminal attaching means located on opposite sides of said plane and being operable to simultaneously apply a terminal to each of said spaced adjacent severed and stripped ends following said endwise separation thereof.

6. In a machine for producing successive electrical conductors from a continuous supply wire, clamps operable to advance successive definite lengths of the supply wire longitudinally past a fixed transverse plane, knives operable to sever the successive Wire lengths from the supply wire at said plane, mechanism cooperating with said clamps to separate the severed end of each wire length from the supply wire axially of the wire and without lateral displacement of the severed ends to provide spaces between said ends and the opposite sides of said plane, means for positioning terminals within said spaces in axial alinement with said severed ends, and terminal attaching devices operable to simultaneously secure the axially positioned terminals to both of said separated ends with said spaces to complete the successive conductors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,497,112 Andren Feb. 14, 1950 2,768,425 Andren Oct. 30, 1956 2,929,136 Andren Mar. 22, 1960 2,954,599 Cootes et al Oct. 4, 1960 

